Syracuse University football hopes to extend South Florida's Big East struggles

Frank Ordoñez / The Post-StandardTailback Antwon Bailey and the Syracuse University football team are averaging less than 100 yards per game rushing this season entering today's Big East opener vs. South Florida.

Syracuse, NY -- It has been a strange journey for the South Florida football team since joining the Big East Conference in 2005. Very strange.

The Bulls (4-0), who face Syracuse (2-2) at noon today (Time-Warner) in the conference opener for both teams, are a lusty 22-5 out of the league since joining, with victories over the likes of Auburn, Florida State, Kansas, North Carolina and North Carolina State. In he conference, though, they are only 14-14, have never done better than 4-3 and have always faded out of the conference race.

Veteran USF coach Jim Leavitt believes he knows why.

"The Big East is that good," said Leavitt, a St. Petersburg native who is 87-52 overall as the only coach in South Florida history. "And when you have Big East teams playing against one another it’s a whole other world. You have to play at a very, very high level all the time with great focus. That’s just the way it is."

The Bulls have failed to reach that level consistently enough in conference play with one significant exception – Syracuse. While falling to every other conference foe at least once over the last four seasons, they have crushed the Orange by a cumulative score of 140-33. Employing their version of the famously popular "zone read option" offense and a defense loaded with Florida talent – translation: fast – USF has owned SU.

On paper, today’s game should be more of the same. Consider:

The Bulls, coming off a signature 17-7 victory at Florida State in the first-ever meeting between the two schools, have outscored their four 2009 opponents 151-27. They rank No. 23 in the nation in total offense, averaging 433.75 yards per game. More importantly, the offense is balanced, producing 207.2 rushing yards and 226.5 passing yards per game. SU’s offense, conversely, has lacked balance, passing for 229.5 yards per game but only rushing for 98.8 yards per game.

USF ranks No. 11 in total defense, allowing only 242.75 yards per game. It has yet to allow a touchdown pass. It features one of the nation’s premier defensive ends in senior George Selvie. SU head coach Doug Marrone said USF’s front four would be tough in the NFL, let alone college ball. Quarterback Greg Paulus agreed.

"Their defense, they’ve got a lot of speed, they’re making a lot of plays," he said. "Their speed and athleticism is tremendous."

SU will counter with a defense that is ranked No. 13 in the nation against the run (83.0 yards per game) but No. 117 vs. the pass (310.5) and has yielded 11 TD strikes.

USF boasts the best third-down defense in the nation, allowing foes to extend drives on third down only nine times in 47 attempts (19.15 percent). SU’s offense is ranked No. 117 in the nation in third-down success (9-for-45, or 20 percent).

The numbers clearly favor South Florida.

"They have great talent, they're playing with terrific effort, and it’s a team we haven't beaten (in the four-game series)," Marrone said. "So it's a tremendous challenge for our
football team."

Before writing SU’s obituary, though, consider this: With the exception of last week’s upset at Florida State, the Bulls compiled their gaudy numbers against a cupcake schedule. While Syracuse primed for conference play by tackling Big Ten teams Minnesota, Penn State and Northwesterm, South Florida was routing Wofford (40-7), Western Kentucky (35-13) and Charleston Southern (59-0). Wofford and Charleston Southern are Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) teams. The four teams USF downed have yet to defeat a BCS foe.

USF will also be without senior quarterback Matt Grothe, who passed for 798 yards and eight touchdowns and ran for two more in three games against SU but went down with a season-ending knee injury in the Charleston Southern game. Redshirt freshman BJ Daniels was impressive last week in his first start, producing 341 yards of offense against the Seminoles, but he still is inexperienced and will be playing in the Dome for the first time.

Finally, this is not the same Syracuse team that won only three conference games in the last four seasons. Much of the personnel is the same, but Marrone clearly has the team playing harder ball.

"Syracuse, they’re really a different team than in the past," Leavitt said. "I’ve been very, very impressed watching the film. They play extremely, extremely hard in all phases, on offense, defense and special teams. I’m just very, very impressed with their coaching and what they’re asking their guys to do."

What the Orange is going to try to do today is make Marrone a winner in his Big East debut and extend their victory streak to three games, something last accomplished in 2006. It is also going to try to turn the page on its recent Big East misery while continuing South Florida’s strange trend of out-of-conference domination and in-conference struggles.

"This is going to be key right here," safety Max Suter said. "Coach Marrone’s first game with the Big East. We’re looking to keep this thing rolling."